2 answers

1) Decide what kind of accent you would like to speak with
There are many different kinds of English accents. The two most common are British and American. There are many different accents even within British or American pronunciation, but most learning materials will help you learn either a standard British accent or a standard American accent.

American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. The consonant sounds are the same (except for the letter ‘t’ and an ‘r’ after a vowel), but the vowel sounds are very different. The British accent has more vowel sounds, and some vowel letters are pronounced differently.

2) Learn the IPA and the individual sounds of English
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a collection of symbols that represent the different sounds of a language. When you know all the sounds of English and the symbols that represent those sounds, you will be able to pronounce any word in English. [Click to tweet this!]

American Pronunciation:
An Introduction to the IPA

British Pronunciation:
BBC Learning English
Interactive IPA Chart

3) When you learn a new word, learn how to pronounce it correctly
The longer you say a word incorrectly, the harder it becomes to learn to say it correctly. You’ve developed a bad habit, and it takes a long time to break a bad habit! This is why it is so important to learn the IPA and use dictionaries specifically for English learners. [Click to tweet this!]

For example, let’s say you see a new word when you’re reading a book: outrageous. How do you pronounce this word? Let’s check two of the online dictionaries specifically for English learners:
MW Learner’s Dictionary
MacMillan Online Dictionary

Both of these dictionaries show you the IPA/phonetic transcription of the word (including which syllable you must stress): /aʊtˈreɪʤəs/

You can also click on the red speaker icon to hear someone say the word.

5) Try to imitate spoken English
To ‘imitate’ means to copy someone/something, to do something the same way, or to do the same things as someone else. Do you really like the way someone speaks English? Try to copy the way they speak.

Do you ever try to make fun of someone from another part of your country by imitating his accent? That’s what you need to do in English!

This is a great activity to try: Close your eyes while you’re listening to something in English (podcasts, songs, TV shows, movies, etc.). Listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and try to make the same sounds. Hear the sounds, don’t try to see the words. Choose a word or sentence, and listen to it many times.

Here are some resources that are useful for this:
English Teacher Melanie podcast (me!)
ESLPod podcast
Coach ...(more)

Whether preparing for the TOEFL, IELTS, or a state-achievement test, we focus on developing our students’ reading and writing skills. In the meantime, speaking skills get pushed to the back burner in the classroom as they’re not frequently formally assessed. And yet, when our students interact with others in their daily life, whether interviewing for a job, asking for directions, or ordering at a restaurant, their speaking is constantly being assessed by those around them.
Speaking in a foreign language is stressful. When you think you’re misunderstood and have to repeat your self, you become even more stressed. As your stress level rises, the quality of pronunciation tends to decrease. In order to give our students the confidence they need to face the real world, we need to teach practical ways to teach clear pronunciation. Here are a few teaching tips when working on pronunciation with your students.

How to Work on Pronunciation Effectively
1
Vowel Length
One of the biggest difficulties in clear pronunciation is vowel length. Short vowels aren’t short enough and long vowels aren’t long enough. Do contrasting exercises where long vowels are extra long (e.g. ‘seeeeeat’) and short vowels are very abrupt (e.g. ‘sit’). This is especially great if you are doing short/long minimal pair exercises. It’s important to exaggerate in the beginning so that students can hear the difference more clearly. Do competitions where students see who can hold the sound the longest. Over time, make the vowels shorter and shorter until they are the appropriate length.

2
Mouth Positions
Studies have shown that explicit instruction in how to position the mouth while speaking greatly helps learners tackling difficult sounds. First, demonstrate with videos and exaggerate making the sounds yourself. Then pass out mirrors and have students observe their own mouth positions while forming the sounds. Here are some of the most important mouth positions for tricky English sounds:

Open mouth: bot, bought (note: for some English dialects, there is no distinction between these vowels)

Round mouth: boat, boot,

Neutral position: but, bit, bet

Corners of mouth pointed down (makes a frown): beat / bat

Tongue between teeth: threat; let

3
Practice Listening
You need to hear it before you can say it. Encourage students to get as much listening experience outside of the classroom as possible. Assign listening reports in order to check in and see what kinds of English students are listening to outside of class. Listening doesn’t have to be boring; tell students to listen to popular music, TV shows, movies, anything in English will work!

4
Write Tongue Twisters
Everyone knows that tongue twisters are a great way to practice pronunciation, but instead of doing all the work, share the load with your students. Having students create their own tongue twisters helps them to not only practice their pronunciation, but be more aware of which ...(more)